


All Must Fall

by secooper87



Series: The Child of Balime [35]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-30
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-10 14:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1160520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secooper87/pseuds/secooper87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You can't change the course of history.  Not when Kovarian's Silence are involved.  But that doesn't mean Seo won't try.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a normal day.

Leah woke up. Got dressed. Brushed teeth. Left home and went to the office, doing hair and makeup on the hovertrain. Picked up a Danish and coffee from the break room. And sat down at her desk.

Less than half an hour later…

The woman with the sunglasses walked in.

Sharp, short black dress, heels that clicked against the marble floor, and a pair of sunglasses perched on her head, holding back her hair. That gorgeous mahogany hair that flowed down her back, catching the sunlight as it cascaded through the windows. Her brown eyes twinkled.

"Leah DeGrout," she read off the nameplate. Smiled. "I've been to Grout. Love the language. They say it comes from a mutated version of Québécois. Which is, of course, why no one in the known universe can understand it."

"Who are you?" Leah demanded, closing her datapad. "What are you doing here? You need a badge to get into this building."

The woman laughed. Leaned over the desk, and whispered, "I'm God."

Leah blinked.

Then blinked again.

"Wait, you're… a god?" Leah said.

"No, I'm _God_ ," said the woman with the sunglasses. Pointed to the ceiling. "You know! Big guy upstairs. The one and only! King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Almighty, Blessed-are-you-Lord-Our-God, Burning-Bush-No-Sandals-Holy-Ground — the whole deal!"

"You're…"

"The one you damn when you stub your toe and the one you bless when someone sneezes." The woman grinned, then posed. "That's me! Impressed?"

Leah nodded, slowly. Then tried to think up the best way to back out of the room.

"But enough about me," said the woman, pulling up a chair that had come, seemingly, from nowhere, and sitting across from Leah. "You. You're interesting."

"I… I'm gonna call my supervisor," Leah said, turning. "Whoever you are, you can't—"

"Tell me about them," the woman said.

Leah stopped. Froze.

Then turned back, slowly. And when she next spoke, her voice came out as a squeak. "Who?"

"So I was right — it _is_ wearing off," said the woman. "You know what I'm talking about."

Leah's eyes narrowed. "Get out of here."

"Have they been in your nightmares?" the woman asked. "Do you feel like there's something you should remember, just out of reach, and you can't find it?"

Leah jumped to her feet. "Get out!" she screamed. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

The woman with the sunglasses said nothing for a few moments.

Then nodded. Got up from her chair.

"It's time, Leah," said the woman. She turned, headed out the door. "Don't find me. I'll find you."

Then left.

* * *

Leah hadn't wanted to think about the Sunglasses woman.

But the meeting kept bothering her.

Kept spinning through her head, like there was something she was missing. No… there _was_ something she was missing. Something she couldn't remember. Something important. Something she'd done, or…

No.

Someone she'd met.

A week ago. Yes, Leah was sure! A week ago, she'd met someone. Two someones. They'd been looking for some organization. Something about… doctors…

But that was it.

That was all that she remembered. Not their names or what they looked like or how they'd gotten here. All Leah knew was that she'd met them.

And if she told anyone, she'd be dead.

* * *

Seo came to.

Chained.

An evil-looking woman with an eye patch was staring down at her. Like she was a specimen waiting to be dissected.

How had she gotten there?

"And again," Mrs. Eye Patch said. "Fascinating."

Seo went very still. Her mind struggling to remember what had happened, just before. "Aunt Dawn," she said. She'd been with Dawn. She'd been running… with… "Where is she? What did you do to her?"

"No recall at all," said a man — also with an eye patch — standing close by. "Impressive."

"Not as impressive as this." Mrs. Eye Patch raised up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Seo stared. "I'm sorry?"

"Answer my question," said Mrs. Eye Patch, "and maybe I'll answer yours."

That seemed ridiculous.

But Seo figured there was no harm in answering.

"Two," said Seo. Narrowed her eyes. "Now my turn. What did you do to Aunt Dawn?"

Mr. Eye Patch's lips twitched into a smile. "Remarkable. She can see right through them."

"She doesn't even know they're there," Mrs. Eye Patch replied. "Perhaps that has something to do with her reaction to them. The complete lack of recall at all times."

"Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Seo demanded. Shook her head. "And what's with the eye patches? Is it Dress-Like-A-Pirate Day? Or did your marketing department decide this look would be the best way to brand your company as evil?" With a small grin. "As if your mission statement isn't enough to give _that_ away."

"She knows…?" asked Mr. Eye Patch.

"Of course I know what you're planning to do," Seo interrupted. "I came here looking for you. I came here to stop you. So you'd better think twice before—"

"One of his companions, we assume," Mrs. Eye Patch told her colleague. "Long-term memory isn't affected. She always knows who we are."

"If it's his companion…" Mr. Eye Patch winced. "You don't think… this is one of his traps?"

"Not a very effective trap," Mrs. Eye Patch replied. Looked over her shoulder. "Flip the lights!" Then back at the man. "Now, if you watch—"

The lights went out.

* * *

Leah walked aimlessly around the park by her home, that evening.

It kept bugging her. The lack of memory. Leah struggled to put the pieces together. She'd met... two people. She was even starting to picture their faces, now. A blond girl, enthusiastic and young and bubbly. And the other — brown hair, blue eyes, serious expression.

Leah had met them. She'd been helping them!

Helping them… with what?

Leah sighed. She couldn't remember, and it was getting late. She turned around to head home.

And froze.

A creature stood behind her. Tall. Slim. Large, bulbous head with sunken eyes and skin tight around a nonexistent mouth. A black suit from which protruded long, bony fingers.

Leah shuddered back.

"I've… seen you before," she realized. Her heart hammering in her chest. "I remember you."

And she did. All of a sudden! Remembered them from her nightmares. From those flashes of memory when Leah had met those other two. Remembered them from the darkest depths of her soul, and she remembered being terrified of them.

The creature advanced towards her, as the lights began to flicker from nearby street lamps, electricity buzzing through the air and gathering around the creature's thin body.

Leah turned.

And ran.

Ran as fast as she could, feet pounding the pavement. Ran like her life depended on it. Ran through trees and grass and past benches and smooching couples, ran down…

A hand caught her arm.

Stopped her, pulled her aside. "It's all right. I got you."

Leah stared in surprise. It was that same woman, who'd come into her office, earlier that day. The same woman who'd claimed she was God, and had asked about the creatures from Leah's nightmares. She was back.

And was now wearing her sunglasses over her eyes.

"Is it them?" the woman whispered. "The ones from your nightmares?"

Leah nodded. Couldn't speak.

The creature was still lurking closer and closer towards them. Its body building up more and more energy.

The woman thrust a long metal pole and a pair of rubber gloves at Leah. "Put those on," she said, "and hold that against the ground. Then follow me." Then sprinted out into the open, and pointed her finger into the distance.

CRACK!

A bolt of lightning flashed through the sky, arching at the perfect angle to strike a tree hanging just over one of the main power lines, causing it to topple and crash down.

The power to the city flickered out.

Plunging them into darkness.

The horrible creature sent a bolt of electricity hurtling towards the woman with the sunglasses, but Leah raced out, held the rod out in front of her, with the rubber gloves...

And dropping it in alarm, as the energy arched towards the rod, and it grew red hot in her hands.

"Leah," said the woman, turning on her heels. "Run!"

Leah didn't hesitate, this time.

Just ran after the woman, fast as she could. Tried to keep up, as the woman flipped her sunglasses back on top of her head, squinting into the distance and belting through the park.

"What… how…?" she asked.

"Lightning grounds the electrostatic charge in the air," the woman replied. "The power outage means they can't absorb electricity from anywhere else. Perfect solution."

"I mean the lightning!" said Leah. "How'd you do the lightning?!"

The woman shrugged. "Told you. I'm God."

Leah surged forwards. Grabbed up the woman's hand, where she discovered a small gizmo inside the palm. "God with sophisticated lightning-creating technology," Leah countered.

The woman tugged back her hand. "Who said God was a luddite?"

They ran into an alley, and the woman shushed Leah. Closed her eyes and listened, carefully. Then nodded in approval, confirming they were gone, and gave Leah a small grin.

Leah crossed her arms.

"So if you're really God," said Leah, "what interest do you have in me? And what interest do those… creatures have in me?"

"You have information," said the woman. "I told you. Information you can't remember. Information they want."

"What information?"

The woman looked right into Leah's eyes. "For a start," she said, in a very quiet voice, "you're the only one who knows the location of Dawn Summers."


	2. Chapter 2

"—closely, you'll see the same thing happening again," came a voice.

Seo stared. She'd just come to, to find herself chained up and facing down two people wearing eye patches. A man and a woman.

Mr. and Mrs. Eye Patch, she decided to nickname them.

What was this? Dress-Like-A-Pirate Day? Or was this some sort of branding thing their marketing department had put together, to make them seem more 'evil'?

Well. Hard for a group whose sole purpose was to kill the Doctor to be _more_ evil…

Wait a sec.

"Dawn," Seo remembered. Suddenly recalling what had happened just before she'd come to. The chase and the capture. Seo struggled to free herself. "Where is she? What did you do with her? If you've hurt her in any way…!"

"She's still looking right at it," Mrs. Eye Patch told her associate. "She never stopped. All that changed was the visible spectrum of light in the room. We flipped the light switch. And it completely erased her short-term memory."

"She must still be registering them, somehow," Mr. Eye Patch hypothesized. "Somewhere deep in her subconscious." He turned to the woman. "That might enhance her susceptibility to hypnotic suggestion, if they give her commands."

"It has," Mrs. Eye Patch replied. "She's already done things for us that she'd never normally dream of doing."

Seo felt a deep chill run through her.

Didn't know what they were talking about. And was scared to find out.

"You've… you've been altering my memory?" Seo asked. "You've been…?"

"She won't kill him, though," Mrs. Eye Patch told her comrade, ignoring Seo completely. "It was the first conditioning we tried."

"Shame."

"Yes," Mrs. Eye Patch agreed. "We can't work out why. As far as we can see, she'll hurt him. Beat him to within an inch of his life, if we give her enough persuasion. Have the poison of the Judas Tree in her hands, ready to deliver. But she'll never actually take that final step."

Mr. Eye Patch tapped his chin, thoughtfully.

"The current theory is she's been conditioned from birth not to," Mrs. Eye Patch provided.

"That in itself is interesting," Mr. Eye Patch replied. "If we could get someone like her — who's conditioned, from birth, the opposite way…"

Seo's left chain was loose.

Seo managed to pull it from the wall. Then yanked the chain around so that the metal end slammed against Mr. Eye Patch's arm, causing him to jump back, with a sharp cry. Seo kept yanking on the other chain. She knew she could pull it free.

"What—?" Mr. Eye Patch said, rubbing his arm.

"I don't like people who mess with kids," Seo growled at him.

Mrs. Eye Patch didn't seem concerned. "She's perfectly harmless," she said. Put her hands out into the air, and then moved them to the side. "Just move the creature out of her line of vision…"

"And she'll forget…?" Mr. Eye Patch said.

Seo darted her eyes over to look straight at him.

And forgot.

* * *

Leah lit some candles, in her apartment. The whole city blacked out around her. The woman, meanwhile, just sat down in one of the armchairs, making herself comfortable.

"Look, even if I _did_ know who this… Dawn person is," said Leah, striking a match, "which I don't — why do these _things_ want her?"

"Not things," said the woman. "Silents. They're called the Silents."

Leah lit the candle. Shook out her match. "Yeah. Silence. Because no mouths. Funny."

"No mouths?" said the woman. She thought this over. "Interesting."

Leah glared at the woman. "Look, do you want something? Or are you just going to sit there making cryptic comments?"

The woman put her hands on her knees. "Describe the Silents."

So… yeah. Looks like whoever-this-was was just in it for the cryptic comments.

Great.

"You saw the creature, too," said Leah. "You tell me."

"I'd rather hear your impression."

Leah sighed. Why did she indulge nutcases like this? "Tall. Slim. Wearing a suit and tie. Massive bone structure around the face. No mouth — like I said before. And…" She stopped, as she noticed the grin on the other woman's face. "What?"

The woman grinned even wider.

Leah felt even less comfortable than before. "What? I mean… they _do_ look like that, right? Or is this your sick idea of a practical joke?"

"I don't know what the Silents look like," the woman confessed. "No one does. Nobody else can remember them."

Leah paused.

Frowned. "Wait, what?"

"The Silents are memory-proof," the woman explained. "While you're looking at them, you can remember. But the moment you look away, you forget. See them again, and everything comes flooding back. But only while they're in your sight."

Leah stared. "That's impossible. I mean, _I_ remember them."

The woman raised her eyebrows.

And Leah sunk back on the couch. As it all made sense. "That's why you're interested in me."

"One of the reasons, yes," the woman agreed. She folded her hands in her lap. "I don't want them to know about your little… ability."

Leah's head was spinning. "But… but if no one else can remember these guys," she said, "then why do _you_? I mean, you stepped right out in front of that other one, and you still remember that!"

"Well, I did come prepared." The woman swept the sunglasses off her head, looked down fondly at them. "Never let me down, yet."

Oh. Right.

Leah had been wondering why the woman had been wearing sunglasses at night.

"So… they're some sort of memory-reinforcing sunglasses?" Leah guessed. "Something to make you able to see and recall those things, even when…?"

The woman laughed.

Tossed the sunglasses over to Leah.

Leah caught them. Examined them, carefully. Then, a little hesitantly, put them on. And could see absolutely nothing.

Pitch black.

"I switched them into blackout mode," the woman said. "The Silents wipe your memory based on whether or not you can see them. With these glasses, I can't see anything at all."

"You didn't act blind, when you wore them."

"I've learned some visualization techniques, over the years," said the woman. "I don't necessarily need to be able to see something in order to understand how it'll look." She shrugged. "Takes a lot of concentration, though."

Leah slid the glasses off her face. "You should get yourself an army of blind people," she muttered, handing them back. "They'd wipe these Silence things out in no time."

The woman took back the glasses, and propped them back up on her head, pushing back her hair. "There are only two people in the universe who naturally react in a different way towards the Silents," she said. "You. And one other — someone you've met."

Leah frowned.

And then it came back to her.

That blond girl, staring straight ahead of her — right at one of the creatures — and shouting, "I _am_ looking! But there's nothing there!"

A blond girl.

Named…

"Seo," Leah breathed. "She couldn't see those Silence creatures at all. Not even when she was staring right at them."

"That's right."

"Except… with her… that didn't make things better," Leah recalled. "It made the amnesia even worse."

* * *

Madame Kovarian raised an eyebrow at Dr. Pandol, who was still studying the readouts from the machinery. "Conclusions?"

"It's fascinating," said Pandol. He glanced back at Kovarian. "How did you find machinery that would read her? I've tried numerous times, but nothing picks her up."

"I didn't find it," said Kovarian. "She built it for us."

Pandol nodded, with a small grin. "Hypnotic suggestion?"

"I told you she was more susceptible to it than others," said Kovarian. "She'll do almost anything. Tell us almost anything." She gestured at the readouts. "Notice how she's put together?"

Pandol squinted. "Looks a bit like… his physiology."

"Except _she_ was created by human beings," said Kovarian. "On Earth. As a weapon."

Pandol turned. Stared at her. "I'm sorry?"

"Her exact words were 'a weapon to take down gods'," said Kovarian. She folded her arms. "Which sounds a little like what we're trying to do. Take down a man who thinks himself a god."

"Remarkable," said Pandol, returning to the readings. He shook his head. "Shame she won't kill him."

"Or an opportunity," said Kovarian.

"Opportunity?"

"Reverse engineering," said Kovarian. "We were already planning to create our own little assassin. If we find out how she was made — imagine how much more powerful our assassin could be."

Pandol nodded, slowly. "Because of the super strength."

"And the rest," said Kovarian. "She says she popped into existence, from nowhere. Energy turned into matter. The memories of everyone around her were rewritten." Kovarian smiled. "Imagine if we could do that with the Doctor."

"Create a fake companion," Pandol continued, "who'll pop into existence right in his TARDIS. Whom he won't remember shouldn't be there."

"He'll trust her," said Kovarian, "right up until the moment he dies for good."

"Brilliant."

Pandol waited for Kovarian to continue. Explain how they'd go about it.

But she didn't.

"We… _did_ obtain an account of _how_ she was created, right?" Pandol checked.

Kovarian sighed. "No," she admitted. "She doesn't know the details. And even the most sophisticated techniques we have can't work it out. Not with Seo." She paused. Then corrected, "Not with _only_ Seo."

Pandol tried to think it through. "The one she keeps talking about," he recalled. "Her… Aunt Dawn. You think she could help?" He shook his head. "But what help would a normal human be, if we want to discover…?"

Kovarian turned to the door. "I think, Dr. Pandol," she said, "you should read the Slayer Institute's ancient legends. Then draw your own conclusions about 'Dawn'."


	3. Chapter 3

Leah could remember it now. Playing through her mind, over and over again.

The way that something passed across Seo's face — a blank expression — every time she looked away from the creatures. That same blank expression passing across her when she looked back at them. A complete inability to recall anything in her short-term memory.

"You said everyone else could recall everything, when they saw the Silents again," Leah said. "But Seo couldn't. Not at all."

"She couldn't," the woman agreed.

"Why?" said Leah.

The woman steepled her hands together, in front of her face. "The Silents work by blanking your memory every time you look away," she said. "You're not supposed to recall anything, when you see them again. Except… turns out, the human brain has a very powerful survival instinct. The moment you see the Silents again, the survival instinct cuts in. Drags your previous memories to the surface. And you can recall what you lost."

Leah nodded, slowly.

"Seo, of course, can't see them," said the woman. "The survival instinct never kicks in. But she still registers them on a subconscious level. Their memory wipe still works on her. And so... while they're around… she has no short term memory."

"You seem to know a lot about these things," Leah pointed out.

"Naturally. I _am_ God, after all."

Leah rolled her eyes, and tucked up her feet. "Yeah? So what about _me_ , then, Mrs. I-Am-God?" she asked. "If I'm the only one who can remember these things, how'd they still manage to blank my memory of meeting Seo and Dawn?"

"They didn't," the woman replied. " _I_ did."

Leah stared. "What?"

"It's important that your ability be kept a secret," said the woman. "That's why I rescued you, when the others were caught. Why I made you forget. And — if you don't agree to help me, now — it'll be why I wipe your memory again. So that the first time you see the Silents… you'll react the same way as everyone else."

Leah felt a chill run through her. "You're… going to wipe my memory," she checked, "unless I help you?"

"Yes."

Leah leapt up. Okay. Time to get out of here. She ran to the door, hoping to bolt down the steps and outside somewhere. Except the door didn't budge. Didn't even wiggle. She raced to the fire escape, but that wouldn't open, either.

Spun around, and found herself face-to-face with the woman, again.

"God," the woman said. "Remember?"

"What do you want from me?" Leah asked, trying not to tremble. "What… do you want me to do?"

"The Silence are trying to kill someone I need," said the woman. "So I want you to help me take them down. Right here. Right now. Before that group ever makes the move to Demon's Run."

"And why should I?" Leah demanded. "What's so important about this Silence anyways? You're the one stalking me and messing with my memory. You're the one trapping me and not letting me go. You're the one insane enough to decide you're God!"

"The person the Silence wants to kill," said the woman, "is the Doctor. If I succeed… he lives."

She looked at Leah as if this explanation was supposed to mean something. Change Leah's mind. Leah, however, didn't get why she should care. "They're trying to kill your doctor," she said. "Yeah — I'm pretty sure the _real_ God doesn't need a doctor. God doesn't get sick."

The woman shot Leah a pointed look. "You still don't remember that part?"

Leah frowned.

And then she did remember.

It was something… Dawn had told her. About the person she and Seo had come there to save. A hero across time and space, who saved planets and fought monsters. She'd called him "the Doctor".

"You _do_ remember," the woman noted.

"So… you don't want him dead," said Leah. "But you still want him. What for?"

"My own little project."

"A little project that was too secret for you to come out in the open and approach Dawn and Seo with?" said Leah. She snorted. "Yeah. I'm not stupid. If you were up to anything good, you'd have confronted all three of us when we were together. Instead, you just waited until Dawn and Seo were gone, and then wiped my memory."

The woman was silent for a long time.

"You know what I think?" said Leah. "I think you're trying to kill Seo off, because she's a weapon to kill gods, and you're all 'I-am-God'! And… and…" She wracked her brain. "And maybe the Doctor tried to stop you, so now you want to get rid of him, too!"

The woman was silent for a lot longer, this time.

Then tapped a finger against her lips, thoughtfully. "I'm not supposed to do this," she admitted, "but… I think it'd be best if I explained things a little more clearly."

Leah raised her eyebrows. "Not supposed to?"

"There's a prophecy," said the woman. "'On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a question will be asked, a question that must never, ever be answered.'"

"And if it is answered… bad things will happen?"

"So they say."

"So what does that have to do with the Silence?" Leah demanded.

"The Silence want to prevent that prophecy," said the woman.

"And what about you?" said Leah. "You want to prevent it a different way?"

"Oh, for me, it's not a prophecy," the woman dismissed. "It's already happened. All of it. Which means I know why that crack opened. Who brought the Doctor to Trenzalore in the first place. Who caused his death. And who should really be blamed."

Leah crossed her arms. "Okay. I'll bite. Who's actually at fault for all this?"

The woman met Leah's eyes. "A future version of Seo."

* * *

For a long while, Leah couldn't figure out what to say to the mysterious woman. Couldn't figure out what to do, or what to think.

She remembered Seo. That sweet girl who'd been so happy and determined. Seo had been the one to inspire Leah to fight the good fight. Come with them and help.

"You mean… the same Seo I met," Leah said. "She's going to—?"

"In her own far distant future," said the woman. "Yes. She is."

Leah couldn't quite believe it. "She's behind all this stuff?! Is that why she can't see the Silence or whatever, because she…?"

The woman shook her head. "It's infinitely more complicated than that," she said. "History sort of… ripples. All must fall, Leah. But sometimes, one fall leads to the next, which leads to the next, which leads to the next. Time is full of ripples and loops and curves and back-flips."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Leah.

"It _is_ all Seo's fault, though," said the woman. "The Doctor's death. Trenzalore. Everything. Which means that if the Silence killed the Doctor the way Kovarian intends to, they _would_ prevent everything on Trenzalore, and thus, the prophecy."

"But why don't they just kill Seo?" said Leah. " _She's_ the monster!"

The woman said nothing for a long time. "A lot of people believe that," she said, at last. "And a lot of people do think she should be dead because of what she did. But, of course, that wasn't exactly how it happened. She made mistakes — nearly ended the universe more than once, come to think of it — but she did what she did out of love."

"She killed the Doctor and almost ended the universe," Leah double-checked, "out of love? How does that work?"

The woman thought a moment. Then sighed. "I really shouldn't be telling you this."

"Then you shouldn't have started," Leah said. Shot the woman a pointed look. "You tell me what's really going on. Or I'll _never_ save this 'Doctor' of yours."

* * *

So they sat down, again, in Leah's living room. The sunglasses woman in the armchair, Leah curled up on the couch.

And the woman told her story.


	4. Chapter 4

So they sat down, again, in Leah's living room. The sunglasses woman in the armchair, Leah curled up on the couch.

And the woman told her story.

* * *

_This is the story of two sisters, after their father, the Doctor, died._

_He had died in a battle against great evil. Been buried with the war heroes on Trenzalore Fields. Many came to mourn him. Including these two daughters._

_One of these daughters, as you've probably deduced by now, was Seo._

* * *

"And the other?" said Leah.

"Will remain nameless."

Leah rolled her eyes. Three guesses as to who _that_ was. And how the woman in front of Leah actually knew about all this stuff.

Sunglasses-Sister.

* * *

_Seo and her sister were, naturally, distraught over the Doctor's loss. But the sister had an idea for how to deal with it. A ritual she'd been taught, when she was younger, to help people cope with their loss._

_"It's called 'the Falls'," the sister said. "Because it takes place when the sun falls, and day turns to night. Symbolic of the passage from one journey to the next."_

_Seo was intrigued._

_And so they gathered, that evening. The sister had brought a handful of empathy beads, and they stood before their father's graveside, and began to remember._

_"The time he took us to Ergolop Beta," said the sister, with a small smile, "and I wound up betrothed to the Prime Stantioner's son. Remember that?"_

_Seo recalled the time when he'd been feeling down, and they'd decided to declare him a birthday so they could throw him a surprise birthday party. Which wound up being invaded by evil beetle looking things that were trying to take over the world — whom they'd defeated._

_And so they continued. Remembering and recalling all they'd loved about him, all they'd lost. Allowing their deepest emotions and love to filter through the empathy beads, then placing the beads down beside the TARDIS, to allow their emotions to seep into the ground._

* * *

"Wait, people actually do this?" Leah cut in.

The woman smiled. "The planet Yazidios," she said. "Every grave is full of empathy beads. Walk through the graveyards of Yazidios, and you can feel the emotions pouring through the air. So much love and sorrow. So much life, in a place of death."

* * *

_"The sun's set, now," the sister said, at last. "Time to conclude the ritual."_

_She stepped forwards. Took the last bead, and set it upon the ground._

_"As day falls to night," the sister said, "as one year falls to the next, one decade to the next, one century or one millennia to the one that supersedes it, we remember you. All people, all eras, all life must fall — but your memory endures forever."_

_She pat the ground one last time. Got up._

_"So ends the Fall of the First," she announced._

* * *

"That was the First Fall," said the woman. "Of course, they say 'Fall of the First' instead of 'First Fall', because back when the tradition started, at the end of every Fall, they'd literally cut down a—"

"I don't get it," Leah interrupted. "What was the catch, for the ritual thing?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Catch?"

"Yeah," said Leah. "I mean, what was the ritual supposed to do? Where does all the magic and craziness and crimes-against-nature stuff come in?"

The woman gave a small laugh. "It's just something to help you remember the dead," she said. "It's not supposed to 'do' anything."

Leah slumped. "Oh."

She'd been expecting space-magic or something.

"But the sisters continued it," said the woman. "Meeting up after a pre-assigned interval of time—"

"Like, every month?" Leah said. "Every year?"

The woman remained silent.

"Every… decade?" Leah tried.

"I think it's better if I didn't say," the woman replied. Winked. "A lady doesn't want to give away her age, after all."

* * *

_They kept returning._

_And every time they did, their empathy beads from the last Fall were gone. Neither could explain it. But they carried on, regardless._

_During the Fall of the Fifth, Seo stepped forwards. Tentatively._

_"Can I… tell him something?" Seo asked her sister. "About_ my _life? Something I wish I could tell him for real?"_

_"Of course," said the sister. "Tell him anything you like, so long as it's from your hearts." She gave a small smile. "It's said that, during the Falls, none can speak falsely or tell a lie."_

_"I just wanted to say…" Seo began to tell the grave. Then stopped. Turned back to her sister. "Wait, really? Never tell a lie?"_

_"So they say."_

_Seo raised an eyebrow. "I'm a pumpkin!" she announced. Paused. Frowned. Then whispered to her sister, "I don't think this not-able-to-lie thing is working."_

_"It's not meant to be taken literally, Seo."_

* * *

"So what did Seo want to tell him?" asked Leah.

The woman shrugged. "It's not important," she said. "I don't even remember, now."

* * *

_During the Fall of the Eighth, Seo was having a moment of moral crisis. She'd been speaking to her sister about it, just before they'd begun the ritual. And now, at the Doctor's graveside, Seo realized the person she really wanted to ask._

_So she asked him what she should do._

_Put the empathy bead down._

_And then gave a small laugh._

_"I guess that'll be the least useful thing I do to figure this out," Seo said. "He's dead. It's not like he can answer."_

_"He can," said the sister. "And he will. It's said that during the Falls, no question can go unanswered."_

_"Can't tell lies, have to answer all questions," Seo reflected. "You know, these dead people sure have to follow a lot of rules."_

_"The rules aren't for the dead, Seo. They're for the living. Your memory of him helps you think about a problem the way he'd have done. The empathy beads focus your thoughts. At some point, soon, you'll know his answer. Because_ you _will have answered it."_

_"Being dead sounds exhausting."_

_"I said the rules aren't for the — oh, never mind."_

* * *

"Is this going somewhere?" Leah demanded.

"By the Eleventh Fall, yes," said the woman. "That's when it happened."

* * *

_The Fall of the Eleventh was when Seo discovered the truth._

_About the empathy beads that had disappeared, from one Fall to the next._

_It began in the middle of the ritual, when Seo had discovered one of their old beads. One that hadn't been taken. She'd nudged it, and then discovered it had fused to the edge of the TARDIS. The ship was slowly dissolving it, absorbing the empathy the bead contained._

_"It's the TARDIS!" Seo cried. "The TARDIS is taking the empathy beads!"_

_"Maybe it's how she's been keeping herself alive this long," the sister proposed. "Living off his memory."_

_But Seo wasn't thinking along those lines._

_"We've been pouring out all sorts of memories and tales about who he really was," Seo said. "At his essence. We've been weaving an elaborate blueprint of him, and giving it to the TARDIS to digest. And the TARDIS is a living thing, able to regenerate any part of herself when she's injured. So long as she gets the right blueprint."_

_"Seo…"_

_Seo spun around. "He planned this!" she cried. "Before he died! He must have! He knew he was going to die, he knew we'd use the empathy beads, and he knew what the TARDIS would do with them!" She raced to the door of the TARDIS, and tried to yank it open. "He wanted to live through it! He wanted us to get him back!"_

_The sister raced over, and pulled Seo away._

_"It wouldn't work, Seo," the sister said. "At full power, Dad's TARDIS wouldn't have enough energy to do what you're talking about. And with the TARDIS slowly dying, now that Dad's gone… it'll never even come close. Nothing that knows him like that would ever come close."_

_"Nothing… except_ me _!" Seo said. Grabbing her sister by the shoulders. "I'm the Key, remember! Enough energy to destroy whole universes!"_

_Her sister stared. "What?!"_

_"We can filter any energy we need through me!" Seo said, turning back to yank on the TARDIS doors again. "Send it into his TARDIS! Bring him back! A new regeneration, a new—"_

_"Are you mad?" the sister shouted. "You could kill yourself!"_

_"Or I could not!" Seo replied. Yanked on the TARDIS doors, even harder. "I'll never know which if I don't try!"_

_The doors didn't budge._

_"Come on," Seo said. Pulling hard as she could. "Open. Open up!"_

_"Seo…"_

_"Open!" Seo shouted._

_But the doors still wouldn't open._

_Seo stepped away, a look of utter hopelessness crashing across her. "But I could always open the doors before," she said. "TARDIS key or no. Why…?"_

_"He must have locked it some other way," said the sister. "Made it Seo-proof."_

_Seo didn't say a word._

_"I guess… he_ did _know this would happen," the sister said. "He didn't want to be revived. He locked you out, and hid whatever he used to lock the TARDIS. Hid it somewhere you'd never find it."_

_Seo bunched her hands into fists. Then punched at the TARDIS door, furious. "How?" she demanded of the ship. "How do I get in? There has to be a key somewhere. So where is it?"_

* * *

"I guess not _all_ questions get answered, then, huh?" said Leah. "I mean, no one's going to be able to answer how to get into the TARDIS. Except the Doctor, and he's dead."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "But you see… Seo _did_ get an answer. The Doctor gave it to her."

* * *

_The answer came as the sister had just begun to talk Seo down. Had put a hand around Seo's shoulders, lead her away, reminding her to, "Think of your mum. What damage her resurrection caused. She never wanted it. Maybe he doesn't, either." And as the sister lead Seo off, away from the TARDIS and the empathy beads and the Doctor's final resting place, that was when Seo looked up._

_And saw it._

_A gravestone. For someone who wasn't buried here._

_A gravestone the Doctor had placed in that graveyard, before he'd died. On purpose. To send a message._

_"River Song," Seo breathed. "That's the answer. That's how to open the TARDIS — by using something only she knows." She broke free from her sister, and began running back to her own ship. "His real name!"_

* * *

"And so, on the fields of Trenzalore," the woman concluded, "when no living creature could speak falsely or fail to answer, a question was asked. And answered."

"What was so bad about _that_ question?" said Leah. "It seems harmless enough."

"It's not the _question_ that had power, it was the _answer_ ," the woman replied. "The Doctor had provided her with an answer to her question. So Seo knew she was _right_ to try to bring him back. Seo knew she had to do whatever it took to make sure she succeeded."

Leah bit her lower lip.

Oh.

"And the sister didn't want him back?" Leah said.

"Everyone wants the Doctor alive," the woman replied. "That wasn't the sister's problem. It was how Seo chose to go about it that upset the sister."

"And upset the Silence, too?"

The woman shrugged.

"So what happened?" Leah asked.

"The whole thing started innocently enough," the woman replied. "Seo tried to get the Doctor's real name from River Song, at the Library. And after almost being eaten by Vashta Nerada several times, her sister dragged her away, sat her down in a private spot on 21st century Earth, and gave her a stern talking-to."

"Sounds like the sister cared about her a lot."

"But it's that talking-to which caused all the problems," said the woman. "The sisters thought they were speaking in private. That no one could overhear. But… they were sitting in a wi-fi hot spot."

"So?"

"Unbeknownst to either of them, at the time, there was a monster lurking in the wi-fi. A monster who hated the Doctor."

* * *

_"I have to," Seo insisted. "You saw! On Trenzalore, he_ answered _my question! That means he wanted to be resurrected."_

_"But not at the expense of your life!" the sister argued. "If he'd known how many stupid risks you'd take to do it, he'd never have put that gravestone there in the first place."_

_Seo slammed down her fists on the table. "Would you stop thinking of yourself for once?!" she demanded. "This is greater than you or me! Bringing him back would make the whole universe a better place. We both know it!"_

_"And I want Dad alive as much as you!" the sister countered. "But do you really think the first thing he wants to see, when he revives, is your dead body?!"_

_"I might not die bringing him back. My plan might work."_

_The sister folded her arms. "And is that what River Song thinks?"_

_Seo didn't answer._

_Her silence spoke volumes._

_"I was right, then," the sister said. "River Song doesn't approve of what you're doing, either. That's why she won't tell you his real name."_

_"Give me enough time," Seo countered, "and I'll convince her she's wrong."_

_The sister grabbed Seo by the arm. "Not if that means you're going to throw yourself back into the midst of the Vashta Nerada again," she said. "Dad might be dead. But you're not. And I'm not letting you kill yourself."_

_"I'm going to unlock that tomb on Trenzalore," Seo gritted through her teeth. "It's his final wish. And you can't stop me."_

_The sister sighed. Then let go of Seo, stepped back._

_"Just… think this all through, before you jump into it," the sister said, a little calmer. "Even after you get into the TARDIS,_ how _are you planning to revive him? What's your plan?"_

_"I'm going to open a tunnel to the vortex," said Seo. "Engage the TARDIS' telepathic circuits, filtered through my mind, to get the blueprints. Then I'll filter the vortex energy through the Key part of me. Combine it all in his… remains."_

_"His remains," the sister clarified, "meaning the scar he left on reality. His entire time-stream, laid out before us?"_

_"Yes."_

_"But don't you see how dangerous that is?" the sister argued. "Not just to you, but to_ him _? Get it wrong, and you could unwrite him from history. Destroy his own past. Turn all his victories into defeats!"_

_Seo hesitated, now. She hadn't thought of that._

_"Maybe it's better to let him remain dead," the sister said._

_"No," Seo insisted. "He answered my question on Trenzalore. That means he wanted me to do this. I won't give up."_

_"But you could destroy him!" her sister said._

_Seo turned, headed out to her ship. "Not if I find records throughout history, explaining exactly what his time-stream should be. Make sure I know what it looks like, before I bring him back. That way, when I filter it all through my head — I won't change anything."_

* * *

"But this monster overheard them, right?" said Leah.

"Yes," the woman agreed. "And sought out the Doctor, in his eleventh incarnation. Tried to break into the tomb on Trenzalore, invade the Doctor's time-stream, and seek revenge on the man who'd ruined all the monster's plans. By turning all the Doctor's victories into defeats."

"Yikes," said Leah.

"And so one Fall of the Eleventh leads to the next," said the woman. "And the next. And back to the first. Rippling across time."

"Did Seo save the Doctor from the wi-fi monster, in the end?"

"No," said the woman. "Someone else did that. At the time, Seo knew nothing about the monster in the wi-fi. But she _did_ notice that something was wrong when she began to uncover records of his time-stream. That she'd already affected something in the Doctor's history."

"But that wasn't her fault."

"No, but she still knew she had to fix it," said the woman. "So she went from looking at records to sneaking through the Doctor's own past. Lingering in the shadows, trying to figure out what had changed."

Leah felt her head hurt. "Isn't that dangerous?" she said. "I mean, for her, the Doctor's already dead."

"It was a danger she felt she had to risk," said the woman. "If she'd messed something up, she had to fix it. Take responsibility for her actions. Can you fault her for that?"

"I dunno," said Leah, with a shrug. "It depends if the danger caused by fixing the mistake is bigger than the danger caused by leaving it where it is."

The woman didn't answer.

"I mean, she almost unwrote the Doctor's whole history with one mistake," said Leah. "Where's there to go, after that? Almost destroying the universe?"

"She fixed that one," the woman replied.

Leah stared. "You mean she actually almost destroyed…?"

"Seo is… impulsive," said the woman. "She forgets to look before she leaps. Even she knows that. But she never _wants_ to hurt anyone. Even if she cracked open the universe, she always tries to put things right."

"Cracked open…" Leah thought, hard. "You mentioned something about cracks being what killed the Doctor, in the end."

"Yes."

"The cracks that Seo created," said Leah, "trying to save the Doctor's life? _They_ killed him?"

"Yes," said the woman. "From the evidence I've seen."

"A paradox."

"I'm working on that."

"So… so… is this your job?" said Leah. "Following Seo around, saving her from her impulsive mistakes, making sure she actually _does_ put things right when she tries?"

The woman shrugged. "If you say so."

Leah thought she was getting this a little bit better, now. "And that's why you're here," she realized. "Because the Silence are trying to prevent the Doctor from being on Trenzalore — except they don't get why he was there, in the first place. You know it's Seo's fault. And since they already have the younger-Seo, you're worried they'll figure out her role, and kill younger-Seo to stop future-Seo from bringing the Doctor to Trenzalore in the first place."

"Yes."

Leah nodded, slowly. Then gave a long sigh. "You know, if you'd told me this at the beginning, instead of wiping my memory and trying to trick me, I'd probably have come along willingly."

"I shouldn't have told you any of it," said the woman.

"Why not?" said Leah. "Afraid I'd tell Dawn and the past-version of Seo?"

The woman said nothing for a very long time. Then got up, brushed some hair behind her ear, and stood by the window. Looking out at the blacked-out city below them.

"Leah DeGrout," she said. "How long have you been living here?"

"Five years," said Leah. "Why?"

The woman waved her hand, gesturing at all the furniture around her. "Does any of this look five years old?"

Leah frowned. Got up off the couch, for the first time digesting her surroundings. The brand new couch. The brand new kitchen area. The brand new armchairs and bed and curtains.

"I don't…" Leah shook her head. "That doesn't make sense."

"At work," said the woman, softly, "your datapad has seven days worth of data on it. Not five years. Just seven days."

"No," said Leah. "That's not possible."

"Who were your parents?" said the woman, turning back to Leah. "Where did you grow up? Did you have any siblings?"

Leah couldn't remember that, either. It was all just a blank. A nothing, where she knew there should be something.

"What did you do to me?" Leah said, shrinking back, hands on her head.

The woman looked on, sadly. "It was all I could think of, at the time," she said. "To hide you. Make sure you were safe." She shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Dawn."

And that was when it struck.

The memories that had been locked away. All flooding back, overwhelming her. When she'd been with Seo, fleeing from the Silence — there hadn't been anyone else there. Just her.

Just…

"Oh, my God," said Leah, her hands still clutching her head. "I'm Dawn. I'm Dawn Summers!"

It was all so clear, now.

She could remember! Sunnydale. Her sister, Buffy. Her days fighting off monsters with Ria in Cleveland. Her days running around with Seo.

Seo…

Who hadn't been able to see the Silents at all.

Who'd been so crippled and handicapped, against them, on her own.

Dawn had left her like that.

Dawn, in the apartment that wasn't really hers, spun on the woman. "But… why?" she demanded. "Why'd you wipe my memory? Because of that, Seo's been with those Silence maniacs for seven whole days! Who knows what they've been doing to her in there?!"

This didn't seem to bother the woman at all. "She won't remember any of it."

"I don't care if she remembers it!" shouted Dawn. "It should never have happened in the first place."

"Maybe she deserves it." With a shrug. "Maybe it should have been for longer."

Okay, this woman deserved a serious beating.

Dawn stormed over, narrowing her eyes. "I've seen you before, haven't I? I remember you. You were around Sunnydale."

"I dropped by, yes."

"And screwed with my head again, I'll bet," said Dawn.

"Conditioned you not to want to tell anyone you could remember the Silents," the woman explained. "To pretend you couldn't remember them, either. Maybe a few other things. No harm done."

"So you _did_ mess with my head!" Dawn crossed her arms. "Who are you, really? Was any of that prophecy-story true, or were you just spinning me a line?"

"It's true enough."

"Really?" said Dawn. "Because I happen to know Seo doesn't _have_ a sister. And _won't_. It's impossible, because Buffy got jinxed by a bunch of higher powers."

"Buffy didn't have a sister, either," the woman pointed out. "Until you showed up."

Dawn glared at the woman. Then grabbed her up by the wrist, and tried to drag her from the apartment. "I don't have time for this," she decided. "I'm getting Seo out of there. And you're going to help me."

The woman pulled her arm free. "I can't."

"You sure as hell can!" Dawn snapped, turning on her. "Whoever you are, whatever time you're from, you're involved in this, now. You _got_ yourself involved, the moment you started messing around with me." She reached out to grab the woman. "You know more about the Silence than anyone, and that means… you're coming with _me_!"

The woman dodged, gritting her teeth in frustration. "I've told you, I _can't_!" she said. "Don't you understand, Dawn? I can't do it!"

"Because you think Seo 'deserves this'?" Dawn said, making exaggerated air-quotations.

"She does. She caused this to happen. She should feel pain for that."

"She hasn't done anything, yet!" Dawn spat, getting right in the woman's face. "That's all in her future! You're condemning her for a crime that she hasn't committed."

The woman didn't answer.

"So come on," said Dawn. "Get her out."

"No."

"I said—!"

"And I said I can't!" shouted the woman. "I remember how this went. How it has to go. You were the only one who went into the building with the Silence. You got me out. No one else. Just _you!_ "

Dawn froze. Stared.

"I got… _you_ … out?" Dawn repeated.

The woman shifted, uncomfortably.

Dawn stepped back. As it all came together.

"Oh, my God," Dawn breathed. "You're… you're…"

The woman gave a guilty little smile, shuffling in place. "Hello, again," she said, awkwardly. "Aunt Dawn."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you're interested, I actually have an explanation for all the supposedly 'supernatural' things that Sunglasses has done across the last few stories, and how Seo actually did them.
> 
> I'll include it at the end.
> 
> Some people are getting confused about Trenzalore. For the sake of this story, I'll just say: for now, assume the Doctor died on Trenzalore. The Daleks killed him, and he never got any extra lives. That was it. The end. Finished. Kaput.
> 
> This is an oversimplified version of what's really going on, but since you only work out what's really going on in a later story, let's stick to this one for now. Time Lords never gave the Doctor extra regenerations. He died and was buried in his TARDIS on Trenzalore Fields, where Seo and Jenny mourned him for countless hundreds of years.
> 
> Don't worry; by the end of this story arc, we'll be back on canon. It just might take us a while to get there.
> 
> Enjoy!

Dawn couldn't take it in.

Couldn't quite believe it.

"You're Seo," said Dawn. Stepped forwards, hesitated. Then reached out a hand, tentatively, to touch her. Make sure she was real. "Seo. After she's regenerated. Gotten another face."

"Nine other faces, actually," said the Tenth Seo. She gave a wide grin, and a wink. "Gorgeous, isn't it? I got lucky this time."

"How do you know? I thought you couldn't see yourself in the mirror."

"Told you," said the Tenth Seo. "It's a technique I picked up. Visualizing things without being able to see them." She dabbed at her eye shadow. "Only way I can put on makeup."

Dawn felt her head spinning. Her whole world spinning. She stumbled backwards, and the Tenth Seo rushed over to catch her. Help ease her back down to the couch.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have pushed your memory," the Tenth Seo scolded herself. "I was trying to ease you into the idea of being Dawn, before I told you. But… I got impatient." She grimaced. "You're just in shock. You'll get over it. Promise."

"The me-being-Dawn thing _isn't_ the shocking part, actually," Dawn said, trying to focus herself. "It's just… you. With everything you've done. Everything you've told me. _You're_ Seo."

"Yes."

"My niece Seo."

"Yes."

Dawn stared at her, long and hard. Feeling an overwhelming sadness wash over her. "Oh, God, Seo," she said. "What's happened to you?"

The Tenth Seo raised an eyebrow. "About nine lifetimes worth of stuff. Where do you want to start?"

"I mean, to make you like this," said Dawn. "Look at yourself! Saying you're God! Resurrecting people! Erasing memories! Nearly destroying the universe!"

"That was an accident!"

"Seo, you said the reason you're resurrecting the Doctor, now, is because you cracked the universe open and caused his death in the first place!" Dawn insisted. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

The Tenth Seo rolled her eyes. "You sound just like my sister and Jack," she muttered. Got up from the couch, pacing the room. "Look, I didn't know about the Great Intelligence at the time. I was just trying to figure out what went wrong in my father's timeline. I kept tracing back the records, but they didn't make sense. Like time was in flux. I narrowed it down to his eleventh incarnation, and figured… it must have had something to do with Amy Pond getting married. So I went back to her wedding." She grimaced. "In retrospect, going back eight times to the same point in space-time probably _wasn't_ such a good idea, but…"

"What?!"

"…but the moment I realized I'd created a temporal pothole on June 26, 2010, I found a way to fix it!" the Tenth Seo insisted. A proud smile spread across her face. "Actually, my solution was rather brilliant. If I don't say so, myself. I just found the right spot in my father's timeline — the one closest to Amy's wedding — took over control of his TARDIS, brought it to June 26, 2010, and sat back to let him put things right."

"You screwed with his timeline, again, after you'd already messed it up once?!" Dawn cried.

The Tenth Seo threw her arms up in the air. "Oh, so sue me!" she said. "It worked, and it was a brilliantly elegant solution to the problem. Send anyone else there _except_ my father, and the whole universe would have been erased before it was even born!" She crossed her arms. "And I think we all would have noticed if the universe had ended, wouldn't we?"

"And what about the cracks?" Dawn said.

"They're… just… a side effect of the temporal pothole," said the Tenth Seo. "Or… something. I don't know! I'm still trying to work that part out."

"And that's what you're up to, now?" said Dawn. "This whole current plan of yours is because you realized that by trying to stop him from dying, you caused his death in the first place — so you figured… hey! Why not play Russian Roulette with history _again_?"

"I'm God," said the Tenth Seo. "I can do anything I want."

"No, you're Seo. And you can't."

"Lots of planets out there have the concept of a benevolent God," said the Tenth Seo, "who brings justice in times of crisis, and yet forgives and is willing to give a second chance to any who are truly repentant. God who's fought off the Devil. Defeated the darkness." She shrugged. "Who's to say _I'm_ not the inspiration for all of them?"

"God's infallible, Seo," Dawn pointed out. "Whereas _you've_ made enough mistakes to last you several lifetimes. Your own story proves it!"

"Then I'm better than God," the Tenth Seo decided. "Because, unlike God, I _admit_ that I make mistakes. And strive to fix them."

"What?!" Dawn shook her head. "Seo, that's insane! _You're_ insane!"

The Tenth Seo spun on Dawn, and slammed her hands down on the coffee table. "And is it insane to want to undo a mistake I know I caused?" Her eyes blazed. "Is it insane to try to stop an innocent child from being stolen away from her parents and turned into a killing machine, based on the information they deduced from my own biology? To try to stop a family from being destroyed, a mother from being violated and experimented upon, and the lives of countless innocent human beings from being lost? To try to save a father who shouldn't have had to die in the first place? To realize I did something wrong, I did something stupid, and not wanting anyone else to suffer for it?" She threw open her arms. "If that's insane, then, yes, Dawn! I'm stark raving mad!"

Dawn stared at the Tenth Seo. Not really sure what to say.

"This is my fault," the Tenth Seo said. "I didn't know that in my first incarnation. I didn't know it when I started trying to resurrect my father. But I've since found out." She clenched her jaw. "I screwed with my father's timeline, and now… events that used to be fixed in time have been thrown into flux. It's up to me to re-fix them."

"And in case you haven't noticed," said Dawn, "you're sending them into even _more_ flux! Younger-you has been with the Silence for seven days! All because this-you brainwashed me, so there was no way I could… rescue…"

Dawn trailed off.

As she saw the guilt and pain on the Tenth Seo's face.

"Oh, God," said Dawn. "You did it on purpose. Left yourself down there for longer. To punish yourself."

Seo looked away.

Her face very dark. Her eyes very sad.

"I don't remember what the Silence did to me, in my first incarnation," the Tenth Seo confessed. "But it's pretty obvious I deserved a lot more pain than they actually caused me. I guess I hoped… if I stuck around this time and place… it'd come back to me. I'd remember. Get something of what I deserved." She sunk down on the armchair opposite Dawn. "Stupid, stupid."

And it was weird to see her like this. So different, so crazy… but still the same Seo, deep down inside.

"I shouldn't have rescued you," the Tenth Seo continued. "Or gotten involved. I usually know better than to mess with my own timeline." She looked down at the ground. "It was just… instinct. After wanting to save you so long. Crying over you for so long. I saw you, and… you were in trouble. So I saved you. I couldn't help myself."

"And if you hadn't saved me…?" Dawn asked, a little uneasily.

"You'd have been fine," said the Tenth Seo. "Escaped, then broken in, later, and gotten the First-Me out." She sighed. "But I didn't think. Just saved."

"Then you shouldn't have put yourself in a position where you were tempted," Dawn argued. "You're old enough to know better."

The Tenth Seo said nothing for a long time. Then, in a half-whisper, "I guess."

Dawn stood up. Offered her niece a hand, and a small smile. Helped her to her feet.

"Enough wallowing in self-pity," Dawn said. "You messed up history by interfering where you shouldn't have. So tell me what was _supposed_ to happen, if you hadn't showed up. And let's figure out some way to put things back on track."

"And stop the Silence from killing Father."

"And stop them from killing the Doctor," Dawn agreed. "Obviously."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explanation of previous actions taken by Sunglasses:
> 
> In "Confession":
> 
> \- Sunglasses said she'd get the Daleks off Jarodin. She wasn't lying. The abduction of the First Seo and Drusilla was what drove the Daleks off Jarodin.
> 
> \- The Daleks say they know Seo because of Sunglasses. Obviously, they meant that they'd met the version of Seo that was Sunglasses, and learned that particular trick of hers.
> 
> In "Sunglasses":
> 
> This story should make a lot more sense, now. Seo is trying to trace back how her parents met and became close to one another. She's doing so in meticulous detail, because she knows it's crucial that, when she revives the Doctor, she makes sure none of that changes. Same timeline or not, no use tempting fate and jeopardizing her own existence!
> 
> That's why she gets so angry at Angel for not getting her when the Doctor first shows up. That's a really important moment for both her parents. Seo doesn't want to mess it up!
> 
> (Also want to point out that "Sunglasses" isn't necessarily told in order according to Seo's point of view. It's told chronologically in terms of dates. Seo's probably zipping all around here.)
> 
> \- Story 1. Portal: Easy, Seo controls portals. The trap was probably established by someone else; Seo just found out about it, and warned Angel to warn her mom. Seo presumably would have closed the portal anyways, but was waiting until the last minute to see if Angel would call her bluff.
> 
> \- Story 4. The Mayor.
> 
> First, in regards to why Seo's helping the Mayor at all... well, it could be a test run for what she's planning to do with the Doctor. But I'm thinking it probably has more to do with Dawn (as you'll see at the end of this story). I think the Mayor bargain takes place after "All Must Fall", from Seo's point of view.
> 
> I'd also like to point out that Seo mentions that she stopped Wilkins from sacrificing to another demon by agreeing to help him. I'm guessing Wilkins was probably about to kill someone, and Seo wound up stepping in, so she could stop it. Her agreement probably had a certain amount to do with reducing his body count, overall.
> 
> (Seo, having the gift of hindsight, already knows how her mom defeated Wilkins. So she's probably not so worried about that part.)
> 
> But... as I said. I think mostly, it has to do with Dawn.
> 
> Second.
> 
> How Seo stabs the Mayor.
> 
> Okay, this one's really cool.
> 
> Since Seo has crossed into her own parents' pasts, and affected the timeline such that they might have died before Buffy and the Doctor get to the Facksisil of Balime incident (the start of her world), the probabilities are in flux.
> 
> If Buffy and the Doctor are killed by the Mayor, now, there's much less likelihood that Seo would have existed.
> 
> But, since _Seo_ was the one who gave the Mayor the solution to making himself invulnerable…
> 
> … then if Seo never existed, the Mayor would not be invulnerable.
> 
> Seo manipulates the fluctuations of her own personal timeline in order to stab Wilkins and make it stick — for just long enough to convince him that she's God. The snap of her fingers didn't cause it to stop; Seo could feel the probabilities of time starting to shift back, and snapped her fingers on cue.
> 
> \- Story 6. Dawn's Memory: I think the Monks in _this_ world never really got a good enough grasp of what was going on with Seo screwing around with the timelines in order to incorporate her into Dawn's memories.
> 
> \- Story 8. The tea that soothes Buffy's headaches: Easy, again. Seo remembers what happened at the end of this Season, and what was causing the headaches. She used a remedy to help her mom feel better, at least for a short while.
> 
> (Look back at that story. The important detail is that Buffy _knows_ Seo put something in her tea, because it tastes funny. But Buffy still drinks it, anyways. Because Buffy knows that Seo would never harm her.)
> 
> How Buffy works out Seo's plan: Buffy figured out that "I want the Doctor; I want him alive" wasn't a means to an end, it was the end itself. Buffy, naturally, would be more astute to detecting resurrection plans than anyone else (she knows from experience), and so picks up on Seo's ultimate plan.
> 
> Buffy then needs to stop it because she remembers her own resurrection, and figures the Doctor wouldn't want to be resurrected, either.
> 
> In "All Must Fall":
> 
> I already explained how Seo did the lightning and the doors. Expanding wood! It's all just technology, really.


	6. Chapter 6

As a captive of the Silence, Seo — blond haired, freckled Seo — was learning that the darkness was the only friend she had left.

When it was dark — when her eyes were closed, and she couldn't see anything — Seo could think. Everything became clear. Her memories stayed where she put them, and didn't keep swimming around and disappearing like everything else in her head.

Where was she?

A captive of the Silence. Yes, that was it. She'd come here with Aunt Dawn, after that thing with the Daleks, so she could save her father. Unfix that point in time.

Right now, in this moment, Seo could feel them splashing water on her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, even tighter. Told herself — don't see. Because she knew… the moment she saw, moment she opened her eyes, she'd lose it all. Lose everything.

"She must be awake," says a voice, above her. "She's just refusing to open her eyes."

A long pause.

Then, a woman: "Cut her eyelids off."

Seo opened her eyes, at that point. And anything else she might have remembered after that drifted away like smoke. Couldn't catch it. Couldn't reach it.

But she'd implanted one thing, deep down inside.

Remembered it.

 _Eyesight is your enemy_.

Seo would come to, at random moments. Suddenly emerge as if from black-out, and find herself making things without knowing why. Or would come to, only to find herself cut open and strapped down to a table and screaming, as surgeons analyzed her insides in detail…

But the experiences flashed away from her just as quickly as they'd come.

She remembered nothing.

Except for what she knew—

That eyesight was her enemy.

Then came the day she came to, out of the haziness that was her inability to remember. Found she was building something. A DNA analyzer and tweaker. Seo didn't know why. She tried to stop herself, but every time she thought she'd succeeded in stopping, she'd come to, again. And realize that she was working on a different part of it, now. The bit she'd been working on before had been completed.

She could remember so little… it was like nothing at all.

And even those little snatches would fade, eventually. Fade into nothing.

This time, when she came to, there was a man in front of her. Holding out a visor towards her, a visor containing zed-blocker lenses.

Seo found she was holding a Zed-Beam Sealer. Glowing in her hands.

"Careful," said the man, trying to put the visor on her head. "Have to look through the lenses when you use that thing, just in case. Point the Zed-Beam Sealer in the wrong direction, and you'll never see anything again."

Never see anything again.

_Eyesight is your enemy._

Seo turned the Zed-Beam on herself. And blasted herself directly in the eyes. Shouted with agony, as she felt her eyes sear and her vision went white.

Then darkness. Forever darkness.

She'd never see anything ever again.

And that was how Seo knew… she was finally free.

* * *

"She's tearing us all to shreds," said Pandol, racing into the office. "Men. Women. Silents. She's started fighting back and she just won't stop!"

"Flip the lights," said Madame Kovarian, disinterested. "She'll forget everything."

"It doesn't make any difference!" shouted Pandol, slamming down some papers. "She's burned out her eyes, Kovarian. We have absolutely no way to control her, anymore!"

Now Madame Kovarian did start looking worried. Rushed to the window, staring down at the altercation taking place below her.

Seo, wild and angry beyond belief, kicking and slamming and punching at anyone or anything around her, attacking with a ferocity and determination that never seemed to stop. But her skill and strength! It was far more than even Kovarian had expected. The blond girl was using martial arts moves Kovarian hadn't seen used outside the Korjensky Star System.

Although… given their ancient legends and the tie-in with Dawn… perhaps Kovarian _should_ have expected it.

"Get everyone out of there," said Kovarian, "seal her inside. Then release the Judas Gas. We don't have any more need for her alive, anyways."

Pandol raced out to comply.

But the evacuation had only just started — the gas not even beginning to vent — when the intruder alarm sounded.

* * *

Dawn had been expecting the power blackout across the city to have hit the Silence, too. But apparently, no such luck. These guys were on full power. And so were all their alarms.

And radio-jamming stuff.

Which messed up her plan with the Tenth Seo, where they'd communicate by radio, and the Tenth Seo could help out behind the scenes. As it was, now, the Tenth Seo would have no idea what was going on up here. Would just keep waiting to hear from Dawn, in case she was in trouble.

Damn.

Dawn heard the stampede of footsteps approaching her, and turned on her heels. Began to run, fast as she could, in the opposite direction. She had to find Seo — _her_ Seo, the blond one — and get out of here. Fast.

She rounded a corner.

And found herself in a dead end.

Dawn turned, to discover a bunch of soldier-looking people advancing on her. She looked around herself. No way out.

Okay.

Dawn stashed the radio in a hiding spot. Since the radio was useless — okay, it was working faintly, here, but no way could Dawn remain in this one spot, and… well, to be honest, the Tenth Seo was determined not to mess with her personal timeline any more than she had to, which meant she wouldn't be much help in a rescue, anyways.

But Dawn did have _one_ advantage.

The Tenth Seo had mentioned that the Silence didn't know Dawn could remember them. Better play along with that. Make them think she was totally helpless, like everyone else, until she could get her advantage.

And get Seo out of there.

Dawn put up no struggle, but surrendered to the soldier-looking people. As she was led off.


	7. Chapter 7

Dawn was ushered in front of a woman in a stark-looking brown business suit, with crazy-looking, frizzy brown hair tied up in a knot at the top of her head. Her round face was creased with malice, and her deep brown eyes seared with contempt. Okay… not eyes. More like… eye.

The other was covered with a metal eye patch.

Behind her were two of the creatures who'd inhabited Dawn's nightmares for longer than Dawn had been alive. The ones Dawn would always see around Sunnydale, then race back home and grab Buffy, drag her out with some stupid excuse, and take the brunt of Buffy's pissed offedness, afterwards, when Buffy couldn't remember she'd killed a monster at all and was just angry Dawn had brought her out her for no reason.

No Buffy around to help her, now.

Just herself. Dawn Summers. Facing down a bunch of scary-looking electricity channeling monsters, all alone.

"Start the gas," the evil-looking woman told another guy with an eye patch, not far away. "Make sure everything works out like we planned."

The man nodded.

Then turned, and headed out the room.

"As for you," said the evil-looking woman. "My name is Madame Kovarian. And from now on, you work for me."

Yeah, right.

Because killing the Doctor was _totally_ Dawn's life-goal.

Okay, focus, Dawn. First thing to do. Bluff your way into making them think you're normal.

"Uh… what… are those?" Dawn asked, pointing at the two Silent creatures standing by Madame Kovarian. "Why were they all over 20th century California? And why couldn't I remember seeing them until just now?"

Madame Kovarian paused. Frowning. Then gestured at someone, who flipped on and off the light switch.

Um…

Okay.

Whatever.

"Woah, major memory rush!" Dawn said, when the lights turned on. "Where'd the two monster things come from?"

Madame Kovarian stared at Dawn, intently.

Then, gesturing at the others, "She remembers. Secure her."

The soldier people around Dawn suddenly jumped on her, tying her up with thick rope, pushing off her struggling and protests as if she were just a fly they could swat.

Before Dawn knew what was happening, she was tied up and secure.

So much for her backup plan.

"Who says I can…?" Dawn demanded.

"Everyone else jumps a little, the moment they see them," said Madame Kovarian. "A moment of fear or a moment of shock. You had neither. You were expecting them." She analyzed Dawn, carefully. "Fascinating. I wonder why you can remember them."

"No idea," said Dawn.

Although, since only she and Seo were affected… she was guessing it had something to do with her being 'the Key'.

Who knew why _that_ had any effect, though.

"Perhaps they affect artificially created people differently than the rest of us," Madame Kovarian mused. She waved a device over Dawn, and then checked the readings. "Except you're fully human. Unlike your counterpart."

Um… okay, then.

Dawn was guessing, from the way Kovarian was smiling, that — in this case, being fully human was a bad thing.

"Should be simple enough to reverse engineer you," said Kovarian, still analyzing the device. She tapped the surface, then put it away. "And the results will be going to the best possible use."

"Seriously?" said Dawn. Trying to fish for her advantage. "Massive coolness. What are you up to? Something I can help with?"

Kovarian was wary. "You don't know?"

"Oh, Seo never tells me _anything_ ," Dawn said. "She's at that rebellious teenager stage, you know? I mean, some people dye their hair black and stick safety pins through their lower lips. Seo just runs off into the universe and creates trouble for universe-saving groups and stuff." She shrugged. "I'm actually here to take Seo out of your hair. But, I mean, if you need help, then… yeah. Just call me Mega-Helpness Dawn."

Once again, Dawn could see the doubt on Kovarian's face.

But Dawn was hoping — against hope — that Kovarian would figure that Dawn was helpless enough, anyways, that revealing the whole plan wouldn't really matter either way.

Finally, Kovarian gave in.

"You're right," Kovarian said. "We are saving the universe. By killing the one man who'll cause its demise. The Doctor."

"You mean the skinny alien with the licking fixation?" Dawn asked. " _He's_ going to end the universe?"

"You've met him."

"Not really," said Dawn. "My sister was a big fan of his. But she was off in college when she knew him, so I wasn't around that much." She shrugged. "I did kind of get the impression he was pretty hard to kill, though. I mean, my sister was the Slayer, and even _she_ didn't get very far. And she tried to run a sword through his head the first moment she met him!"

Madame Kovarian examined Dawn, carefully.

And Dawn cursed herself out inside her head. Damn. She'd gone and started talking about stuff that had actually happened between Buffy and the Doctor, when she should have just made it all up! The truth was always way more complicated than a lie.

"Is your sister the one who created you?" Kovarian asked, at long last.

"No," said Dawn, a little surprised. "No, she was actually pretty pissed off about it. It was some other guys. I don't know their names or anything." She rolled her eyes. "I was 14 at the time, and my sister wouldn't tell me _anything_."

Madame Kovarian absorbed this. "Sounds like very few people tell you anything."

"Yeah, basically," said Dawn, trying to sound normal about this. "Why? Is it important?"

"You appeared in the world," said Madame Kovarian, "in such a way that no one could tell. They thought you'd always been there."

Dawn nodded, slowly. Didn't like where this was going.

"Even your sister trusted you completely," said Madame Kovarian. "Loved you and would protect you no matter what. Because of her implanted memories."

"Actually, my sister and I fought all the time," Dawn tried to put in, but Kovarian wasn't interested.

"The Doctor," said Kovarian, "trusts no one more than he trusts his companions. Even a new companion that he didn't realize hadn't always been there. Who didn't even know she was an assassin. And could get close enough to him to get rid of him for good."

Dawn stared.

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no, no!

"Apparently, there's some visual element we'd have to get rid of, with you," said Kovarian. "But Seo has already solved that problem for us. No odd green glowing around her, to throw him off. And our Silents can already alter the Doctor's memory, so that should be no problem, either."

No!

Bad, bad, very bad!

"I thought you were supposed to be kidnapping one of his companions and brainwashing her baby!" said Dawn, struggling against her bonds. "What happened to that plan?!"

Madame Kovarian seemed intrigued. "We decided this was a better one," she said. "Two days ago. How did you know our plans?"

Two…?!

Oh, God.

This was all thanks to that future-Seo. Leaving her earlier self down here longer, and screwing everything up!

Talk about history being in flux!

The Dr. Pandol from earlier re-entered the room. Immediately went to the opposite end, towards a bank of machinery. Turned away from Dawn so he could lean down and analyze it in more detail.

"You know the Doctor," said Madame Kovarian, leaning down to get right into Dawn's face. "Did he send you? How much does he know about us? How much is he willing to risk to get you back?"

"The Doctor didn't send me!" said Dawn. She struggled, even harder. "I sent myself, you idiots. To get Seo out of here. As long as Seo's safe, I don't give a damn about the Doctor!"

It was a lie.

And not even a convincing one.

But, at the moment, Dawn had completely run out of convincing lies.

"You don't have to worry about Seo, anymore," said Madame Kovarian. "She's dead." She turned to the soldiers. "Take this one down to the lab and secure her to an exam table. Dr. Pandol will—"

"You killed her?!" Dawn cried.

Everyone looked over at her.

The corners of Madame Kovarian's mouth twitched.

No, wait, of course they'd killed Seo. They'd have figured out she could regenerate, and tried it out for themselves. Done measurements and readings and stuff like that.

"What… what does she look like, now?" Dawn asked, in a small voice.

"A corpse," said Madame Kovarian. "She didn't regenerate. We used her to test the poison from the Judas Tree."

But… but…

But that didn't make sense.

If Seo died for good, now, then her future-self couldn't come back and screw up history. But if her future-self hadn't screwed up history, then Dawn would have gotten Seo out of here okay, like the Tenth Seo had said. Which would lead to the Tenth Seo coming back in time to mess with it, and cause…

Oh, God.

Massive headache.

"You look confused," Kovarian remarked. The twitch at the corners of her mouth raised, just a little higher. "Did you really think she could outsmart us?"

"It's been working so far," said the figure in Dr. Pandol's lab-coat. Turning on her heel, and lunging forwards, her sightless eyes white and charred and burnt, but her face just as determined as ever. She tackled Kovarian to the ground, wrestling her into a choke-hold, and then brandishing a knife by the woman's neck.

The soldiers nearby froze.

"I hear one footstep in this direction, and I'll kill her," Seo warned. "Now. Release Dawn."

"She's bluffing," said Kovarian, through the choke-hold. "She's the Doctor's companion. She'd never—"

"She's not bluffing," Dawn cut in. Because every moment she stared at this Seo, _her_ Seo, she remembered… who she'd turn into. A nutcase who thought she was God. "Look, just… do what she says, k? Please. For all your sakes."

Seo seemed momentarily taken aback by the real fear in Dawn's voice.

But quickly composed herself.

The soldiers did as Seo asked. Releasing Dawn's bonds, and letting her go free. Dawn had only just gotten up, and was rolling around her wrists to get the circulation back, when she noticed the lights flickering. And the Silent creature nearby soaking up electricity, ready to take its shot.

"Seo, behind you!" shouted Dawn.

Seo spun around to look behind her, and only then seemed to recall she was blind. The momentary distraction was all it took for Madame Kovarian to get free, tackling Seo down against the ground, and shouting at the other soldiers to help her.

Dawn, not knowing what else to do, slammed the fire alarm on the wall. The entire area erupted in a shower of water as the sprinklers turned on, the alarms blaring and blazing around her, and the Silent creatures stopped their electricity absorption with a suddenness that Dawn hadn't realized they could possess.

Good move, Dawn!

Water conducts electricity. So make the creatures unable to kill Seo without killing everyone else…

"Get Dawn!" shouted Kovarian's voice.

Okay.

That sounded like Dawn's cue to run like hell. And find some other way to save Seo.

Even if it was insane and desperate.

* * *

The radio crackled into life, and the Tenth Seo picked it up. She'd just finished wiring up the explosives into the basement of the building Kovarian's Silence was using for their headquarters.

Dawn's voice came through.

"…gotten seriously bad, up here," Dawn said, her voice faint and crackly. "Seo's blinded herself, Kovarian wants to kill her, and they're trying to reverse engineer me so that a brand new assassin-companion the Doctor trusts completely will do a Dagon-Monk-Style-Appearing-Act in the TARDIS, and kill him."

The Tenth Seo picked up the radio. "What?!"

Dawn explained it, again. In more detail. Just what difference those extra few days had made. And how the situation had changed from what they thought.

Different from how the Tenth Seo remembered. She was positive she'd never blinded herself. She'd just been confused and unable to cope, and next thing she knew, Aunt Dawn was dragging her out of there.

Not anymore, it seemed.

"Good news is, I think you saved that Melody person," said Dawn. "So congrats on that. But you've definitely just killed me, Seo, and… oh, yeah, the Doctor's gonna die way before he's supposed to. Still happy you went on your little I-deserve-pain guilt-trip?"

The Tenth Seo sat very still for a few moments. Then, into the radio, "You have to get me out of there."

"Yeah, I'm working on it!" snapped Dawn. "But it's looking pretty on the impossible side, right now. How about a rescue?"

"I can't!"

"Yes, you can!" Dawn shouted.

"No, Dawn, I really _can't_ ," the Tenth Seo said. "It'd be changing around my personal timeline. Direct interference. I won't do it!"

"You've already _done_ it!" Dawn insisted. "You left yourself down here for longer than you should have, and it's caused this problem!"

"And if I meddle any more, I could make the problem a thousand times worse," the Tenth Seo said. "I can't do it, Dawn — it's a hard and fast rule of time travel. One that even I don't break lightly!"

"Why not?" Dawn retorted. "You interfered with the Doctor's timeline."

"That's different," the Tenth Seo said. "That was a risk. This is… just… it's so much worse than you can imagine! If I cause past-me to die… the paradox would be staggering! It'd crush at least this universe, if not the ones around it."

"All this coming from Miss I-Am-God, I-can-do-anything-I-want?!" snapped Dawn. "Geeze! I mean, you threw the whole of history into flux, so why can't you…?!"

Dawn was cut off by a scuffle on the other end of the radio. Several loud yelps from Dawn.

The Tenth Seo stopped breathing, for a moment.

Then, shouting at Seo from the other end of the radio, "If you really are God, then PROVE IT!"

The radio went dead, right afterwards.

The Tenth Seo got to her feet. In the basement of the headquarters that was plotting to kill everyone and everything she'd ever known, loved, and remembered. Those she'd lost once before. And might have to lose all over again.

"If I really am God," the Tenth Seo repeated.

Then she flipped down her sunglasses, shoved them into blackout mode.

"Let's find out."


	8. Chapter 8

Blond Seo, her eyes still burning and dead from the Zed-Beam, could only hear as they dragged Aunt Dawn back into the room. Committed herself more determinedly towards fighting her way out of this, fighting her aunt out of this, making sure that this woman-evil-person got what was coming to her.

But the walls were never where Seo expected them. Every time she kicked someone off of her, she'd frantically reach for a door she could never find, before more people were dragging her back, again.

Then came the gunshots.

And the stabs of pain tearing through her, as the bullets hit.

She couldn't stop herself from crying out, as she reached for a Dawn she couldn't see. Tried to clutch at anything concrete within the darkness.

But then… in a single instant…

It all changed.

The sounds and cries were coming from the soldiers, now, not from Dawn. The evil woman, too, was crying out in alarm. Someone shouted at someone else about a failsafe, but whatever the failsafe was seemed to make all the cries and panic even worse.

Hands helped Seo up. She hurt all over. Could barely feel anything through the pain and the misery, nothing except…

"Wrong," Seo said, grabbing onto the arms that had caught her, for dear life. "This is wrong."

"Hey, hey!" said Dawn's voice. "It's cool. We got you."

"This shouldn't be happening," Seo said, through her teeth, as she felt herself maneuvered and moved. There was another set of hands helping Dawn, now, and Seo didn't like it, didn't like it at all, there was something bad about it, bad with bad written all over, and even _Seo_ could feel it in the pit of her stomach. "This isn't right!"

"It's fine," said a voice Seo had never heard before. "I'm taking care of it."

"We're getting you out of here, Seo," Dawn added.

She felt herself maneuvered onto something else, laid down on its surface. And then there was the whirr of a motor, and the feeling of being lifted and zoomed forwards.

"Out of here and blow it up?" said Dawn.

"One stop, first," said the other voice.

The movement stopped. Sound of someone leaping onto the ground, beside them. Then a crackle of a loudspeaker, through the air.

"Hey, there, everyone!" the unknown voice bellowed throughout the complex. "Just a heads up from Good Guy Central, to let you know that you're all about to be blown up in a fiery explosion. So… unless you want to discover what a barbecue's like on the wrong end, I'd give up. And get out. Now."

The sounds of gasping. Then the sound of an energy gun being charged, from nearby.

"You're… him," said someone gaspy. "Wearing a female face. You're the Time Lord."

"Not a Time Lord," said the confident voice that had gone out over the loudspeaker. "No. _I am God_."

And then there was a crash and a series of sparking, and a lot of other noises that Seo couldn't identify. But she was feeling scared, now. Really scared. And it wasn't of the people trying to kill the Doctor.

"Geeze, where'd you learn to fight like that?" said Dawn's voice, as Seo felt them lift up, again.

"Nine lives, remember?" said the other one.

Nine lives.

Like a cat.

"A bad cat," Seo muttered, shivering — maybe from blood loss, maybe from something else. "Scariest cat alive."

Then came the sound of a massive explosion.

It was the last thing Seo registered, before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Dawn sat by Seo, holding her hand, staring at the girl with the blond hair and burned-out eyes who lay, unconscious, before her.

"Got it," said the brown-haired blur that dashed into the room. Still wearing heels — how could she run so fast in them, anyways?! She helped prop the blond girl's head up, then one by one opened the younger-Seo's eyes, and tipped a small glass vial full of a glowing white substance into each of them.

Younger Seo groaned.

But didn't wake up.

The Tenth Seo stared at the unconscious girl. "I look so young," she remarked. Gave a sad smile, tucking the blond hair away from her younger-self's face. "It's been a long time since I was that young. That innocent."

"She'll get back her eyesight, right?" Dawn checked. "I mean, with the whatever-it-is you gave her?"

"Should," said the Tenth Seo. She plinked the now-empty vial. "Zero Matter. Fused with symbiotic essence. I've used it on Zed-burns in the past." She considered. "Admittedly, never on my eyes."

Dawn nodded.

Then turned back to the blond Seo, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

For a few moments, no one said anything.

Then the Tenth Seo gave a small little laugh.

"This must have been how my father felt," she said. Her eyes shone. "Just… amazing. Like you can do anything. He called it…" She fished for the words, "…victorious. Yes! Time Lord Victorious. That was it."

"Uh… you wanna explain any of this?" Dawn asked.

"Zero Matter," said the Tenth Seo. "It's from Oliver. _My_ Oliver. The fully grown one. The stuff works so well because it's using the symbiotic link between him and me. Lethal in large doses, but… well, this is just a drop or two."

Dawn blinked.

"An hour ago, I'd never have given it to her," said the Tenth Seo, stroking her younger-self's hair. "To baby-me. Wouldn't want to tie a knot in my personal timeline. That breaks all the rules." She grinned up at Dawn. "But then you reminded me. There are no barriers, anymore. No more rules I have to follow."

Dawn was starting to feel distinctly uneasy, now. "Uh, Seo…?"

"That's me! Seosyrae!" said the Tenth Seo, with a laugh. "The basis for the entire Judeo-Christian concept of God. Oh, I've been saying it for a while, now, yeah — but just to sound impressive. I never actually believed it. But you — you proved it, Aunt Dawn! You proved I really _am_ God!"

"I didn't mean—"

"That's what I was always missing!" said the Tenth Seo. "You! Someone to make me take that extra step! Give me that extra leap of faith! I mean, what do I care about Time Lords or laws of time or whatever? Everyone should know: I'm God, reality is in my hands, and I'm damn well going to shape it!"

"Seo, what—"

"You're right, Dawn, I _can_ do anything!" the Tenth Seo cried, jumping to her feet. "Fix my own mistakes. Fix other peoples' mistakes! Bring back my father, and make sure the universe is the most wonderful place it could possibly be." Her grin grew even wider. "Candy for orphans! No, wait! Better still! Parents for orphans! I'll just zip back in time, save their parents. Make sure they grow up happy!" Her eyes shone. "Justice for the evil, mercy for the innocents. All of time is in flux — no more worrying about fixed points, causal loops, or anything! The whole universe is in my hands — all of time and space — and I'm going to fix it. I'm going to make it perfect!"

"Seo!"

But the Tenth Seo wasn't listening. She grabbed up Dawn by the shoulders. "And you." The hints of tears sprouted in her eyes. "I never forgave myself for the way you died. No one deserves to go like that — definitely not you." She shuddered. "I've blamed myself a thousand times, thought over and over again about what I could have done differently. How I could have saved you!" She looked Dawn right in the eyes. "But it won't happen, anymore. Because I'm going to go back into history, change around time, and save your life. You're going to survive — the way you deserve."

Dawn was speechless.

Her jaw falling open.

The Tenth Seo kissed Dawn on the head. Then banished the tears from her eyes. "All of history awaits, Aunt Dawn," she said, stepping back. "Just you watch me make it shine."

Then she turned.

And raced out the door.

* * *

In a back-alley, on the run from the police, Madame Kovarian tried to work out how to proceed. Where to go next. What to do, now, with everything in ruins and the Doctor still alive, somewhere in the universe.

She could start again.

She had to. She was certain that she had to. Dr. Pandol was dead, yes, but she'd find another plan. Another way. That Time Lord was clever, but she was cleverer. It was her duty to outsmart him. To bring him to his knees. To destroy him so that he couldn't…

"Madame Kovarian?"

Kovarian looked up, to find herself looking at a tall, slender woman with a hard face, cold blue eyes, and short black wavy hair. In two seconds, the woman had grabbed her up by the collar and slammed her against the wall.

Woman's face two inches from her own.

"I just thought you should know," the woman seethed, "that I utterly despise you. That I think you're not worth the filth you walk on. That your every action sickens me, and that if I could remove every twisted and corrupted neuron inside your brain bit by bit until you were an empty shell, I'd do it. And never think twice, once I was done."

Kovarian didn't know what to say.

The woman set her down on the ground. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way," she said. "I'm here to help you."

Kovarian blinked. "Are you, now?"

"Your equipment's been blown up," said the woman. "Your research lost. Your whole faction on the run and confused and disorganized. It's time to relocate to Demon's Run. And rebuild what got torn down."

Kovarian didn't trust this.

Not for a single second.

"And just why would you want to help me?" said Kovarian. "You could be working for _him_. The enemy."

The woman folded her arms. "Because I thought history had been thrown into flux, Madam Kovarian," she said. "Except here, now, something changed. Making history plunge into a freefall. _Everything_ is up for grabs. _Everything_ is changing."

Kovarian frowned.

This was sounding more and more like a trap.

"I'm here to stop that happening," said the woman. "I'm here to make sure that on April 22, 2011, the Doctor arrives at Lake Silencio, Utah. Make sure someone in a space suit is waiting for him. Make sure he's shot 3 times. And won't regenerate. His body will be put on a boat, and burnt on the lake."

Which… oddly enough… sounded like what Madam Kovarian had been planning.

The perfect scheme.

"That has happened," the woman said. "So it must happen. And I'm here to make sure it does happen. Hopefully _that_ will be enough to re-stabilize the timeline."

"You're a sentinel of history, like us?" Kovarian double-checked. "You're here to kill the Doctor?"

The woman squeezed her eyes shut. Never answered, as she turned away, and began to march off. "Let's just get this over with."

Kovarian almost missed the last sentence that the woman muttered beneath her breath.

"Sooner I do this, sooner I can beat up my sister for making me have to."

* * *

It was several days before Seo, in her first incarnation, recovered fully.

Several days before they got to climb back into Oliver, and take off, again, heading away to meet their next adventure.

"At first, I was just thinking… random coordinates!" Seo enthused. "But then I thought, why don't we start going through the telephone book? That'd be brilliant! We could call ourselves the Phoney Time Travel Duo, and always call each other up, and…"

Seo stopped. As she noticed Dawn wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Did I do something wrong?" Seo ventured.

Did she do something wrong?

How was Dawn even supposed to answer that kind of question?

"You said we beat them, Aunt Dawn," Seo tried. "We saved my father from certain death! This should be a happy time, not a time to go all frowny and sad."

(And whose fault was all of this, really? The future Seo had had some scruples, at the beginning of this. Lines she wouldn't cross. Things she wouldn't do. But… Dawn… had…)

"Aunt Dawn?" came Seo's worried voice. "What… what's wrong? What happened, during the times I can't remember?"

"I need a break," Dawn admitted, finally.

Seo paused. Staring. "I… thought… traveling around together _was_ a break."

"A break from this," said Dawn. "From you and… everything else." She ran hands through her hair, sucking in a sharp breath. "I saw some stuff, Seo. Stuff… I need to think about."

Seo didn't say anything for a long time.

"Just take me back to Cleveland," Dawn said. "For a bit. Please. You can go home. Visit your mom and Alison. Hang out with Torchwood and do all the things you like."

Seo still said nothing.

Then, in a small voice, "Are you coming back?"

"I… don't know," Dawn admitted. "Just… for now… I think it would be better for both of us if we… stayed apart for a while."

A much longer pause.

Then the sounds of Seo's ship rumbling back into life. As Seo redirected them towards Cleveland. The Slayer Institution.

"Whatever happened," Seo ventured, "I'm sorry."

Dawn turned away.

"Yeah," she agreed. "So am I."


	9. Epilogue

Lorna Bucket sat, as usual, sewing her little cloth. Trying to make something for the mother they'd kidnapped and experimented on and used for their own ends.

"You don't belong here."

She looked up. To find the blue eyes and wavy black haired face she had seen, before, working so hard to make this venture a success. Now standing right above her chair, looking down at her.

"Professor Grvorai," said Lorna. "I didn't know—"

"I'm about to leave Demon's Run," said the Professor. "Any second now. You can come with me."

Lorna gave a shy smile. "Sorry. I'm staying."

Professor Grvorai looked at her, a long moment.

Then seemed to accept this. Nodded.

And knelt down beside Lorna. Elbows resting on knees. She nodded at the cloth Lorna had begun to embroider. "What's it going to say?"

"Just the child's name," said Lorna. "Melody, I heard. Melody Pond."

Professor Grvorai looked off into the distance. A lost, lonely look on her face.

"That's good," the Professor decided. "Something she can hold onto. Her name." Her eyes dropped. "Maybe it'll help her… connect. Find out who her parents are. Find them, so she can look up to them."

"I wasn't thinking that far ahead," Lorna admitted. "I just wanted to do something for the mother. Amy."

But Professor Grvorai didn't seem to be listening. Her eyes were sad, now. Sadder than Lorna had ever seen them before.

"It was all I got from Dad, the day I was born," said the Professor. "A name. He didn't even come up with it, himself. But every time I wore that name, it helped me remember… what he expected from me. What he wanted me to be. The best I could be, and something better than I was."

"Professor Grvorai?" asked Lorna.

"That's not my real name," said the Professor. "I'm not even a professor. I made all that up." She shot Lorna a sideways smile. "The word Grvorai means 'Traitor' in Ancient Urdosian. And that's what I feel like I am, right now. A traitor to everything I've ever believed in."

"I don't understand."

"My dad died," said the Professor. "A long time ago." The smile grew on her lips. "And Dad was the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful person you could imagine. I didn't get a lot of time with him, before the end, but… so many people loved him. So many admired him."

"He sounds… very nice," Lorna offered.

"You don't know the half of it." The Professor stood up. And sighed. "But the thing is… he's dead," she said. "His life is over. Done. A shut book. It shouldn't be changed."

Lorna frowned.

"Which is why I'm here," said the Professor. "Making sure everything stays the same. Living up to his ideals by going back in time and making sure his friend gets kidnapped, her baby gets turned into a weapon, and his spirit gets completely crushed. The way history says it should go. The way he told me it happened." She spread her arms. "Grvorai sounds about right, doesn't it?"

" _His_ friend…?" Lorna gasped. As she realized. "Your dad… is…?"

The Professor nodded.

Lorna couldn't stop herself from gaping. "Then… why are you _here_?"

"Because Dad died a long time ago," said the Professor. "His timeline's over. His job is done. His story is sealed away forever. I can't do anything for him — not anymore."

She took a small wrist-strap out of her back pocket, and fastened it around her wrist. Punching some buttons on the display.

"But I've got a sister," said the Professor. "She's still alive. And I plan to keep it that way."

"Why? Who wants _her_ dead?"

The Professor glanced at Lorna. "If I don't stabilize the timeline, you'll find out," she muttered. Gave a little wave. "They don't take chances when Dad's personal timeline is in flux. Not anymore."

Then the mysterious Professor Grvorai pressed a button on her wrist.

And disappeared.


End file.
